The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has unveiled its survey, indicating that medical tourism in Thailand could generate 26 billion baht in gross revenue this year, a 13.9 percent hike from 2017. This projection is bolstered by the fact that the Kingdom is among the world’s top medical tourist destinations and is home to 64 JCI-approved medical institutions.

Thailand’s medical facilities also offer numerous other services such as anti-ageing treatments, fertility inducement and reproductive system stimulation, alcoholism and drug addiction remedies and luxurious medical resorts. According to the survey, approximately 66,492 medical tourists have visited Thailand and sought medical services at Thai hospitals. Considering that an average medical visitor spends 234,923 to 700,000 baht per trip, the gross revenue from this group of tourists in 2018 could be as high as 26.4 billion baht, not to mention other expenses such as shopping and wellness services. This number is even more astounding in view of the fact that each visitor normally stays in the Kingdom for just 5 days.

Thailand stands out from the global pool of medically capable countries because of the outstanding quality of its medical facilities, treatment success rate, and the country’s worldwide reputation as medical destinations. This is especially evident given the responses by medical tourists when asked whether they will return to Thailand for more medical services, to which the answers were all positive. To maximise the potential of the promising sector, the TAT is exploring opportunities to encourage development of medical services in 12 provinces with immense potential such as Bangkok, Khao Yai, Pattaya and Khon Kaen.